Vanished. Elizabeth Heiter
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taken two other girls, from two other communities in South Carolina. No bodies had ever been found, but the press had called their abductor the Nursery Rhyme Killer.
After Cassie went missing, all of Rose Bay had been terrified, expecting him to strike again. But he never did. The trail had been cold ever since.
And Evelyn had waited eighteen years for the chance to investigate. Determination put speed in her steps as she strode through the bull pen toward her boss’s office.
“Attitude incoming,” Kendall White singsonged as she marched past his cubicle. “I knew that laid-back thing you had going for the past two weeks was just a ruse,” he called after her.
She ignored him, but something uncomfortable wormed around in her gut. In her year at BAU, her work ethic had been intense and nonstop. The past two weeks had probably seemed like an anomaly to her colleagues, but she’d intended to make a real change.
It wasn’t going to happen now. Not with the Nursery Rhyme Killer grabbing new victims. She pushed open her boss’s door without knocking. “Dan, I need to go to Rose Bay, South Carolina.”
Dan Moore, the assistant special agent in charge who ran BAU, lifted his frustrated gaze to hers and sighed. “Damn it.” Then he said into the phone at his ear, “I think I know who has it. I’m going to have to call you back.”
He hung up the phone and then barked, “Shut the door.”
Shit. She should have knocked. But Dan wasn’t exactly her biggest fan on the best day, so she tried not to let his reaction worry her.
When she’d closed the door and turned back to him, Dan said, “That was Chief Lamar from Rose Bay.”
Relief swept through her. If Rose Bay was formally requesting a profiler, it would be a lot easier to get herself assigned. “I already know the case. I—”
“Because you requested the case file under false pretenses?” Dan interrupted, his cheeks darkening to an angry, mottled red. “Chief Lamar was calling to find out if the FBI had come up with anything on the abductor since we’d asked for a copy of the file a month ago. I was in the process of telling him we’d never requested that file when you barged in.”
He slapped the desk hard, making her jerk backward. “What the hell are you doing, Evelyn? Assigning yourself cases without the Bureau’s knowledge or approval? Are you trying to get yourself investigated by OPR again?”
Evelyn stood a little straighter and prepared for a fight. The Office of Professional Responsibility hadn’t really investigated her, but they had reviewed the case she’d profiled last month that had cost another agent his life and almost took hers, too. She’d never been in trouble before that case. It hadn’t occurred to her that requesting Cassie’s case file could put a stain on her FBI personnel file.
When her grandma had let slip after seventeen years of silence that the note left by Cassie’s abductor had said he’d taken her, too, she’d needed to know. And the case file had told her it hadn’t been her grandma’s dementia talking.
Eighteen years ago, she’d somehow escaped dying alongside Cassie.
Evelyn reached a hand up to smooth hair she knew was tucked neatly into its usual bun. “I had to find out what really happened. This is why I joined the Bureau in the first place.”
Dan rubbed his hands over his temples, sending the hair on the sides of his head—the only place it grew—shooting outward. “This is that case?”
He hadn’t realized? She knew he was aware of her past. Having been best friends with a kidnap victim and being so intensely invested in the case had almost prevented her from being accepted into BAU. But apparently Dan either hadn’t looked into the case too closely or had forgotten the details. He’d been a lawyer before joining the Bureau, and since he could easily spout court case details from thirty years ago, she suspected it was the former.
She’d nearly lost a spot in BAU and Dan hadn’t even known the facts of the case. She pushed her annoyance aside. It didn’t matter now.
“Yes, this is the same case. If the perp is back, I’m in the best position to profile him. I know the case and I know the people involved.”
Dan shook his head. “Or you’re the worst possible choice, because you’re too personally involved to be objective.”
“I’m the only one who can—”
“A CARD team is there now,” Dan interrupted, his tone hard and final.
The FBI had Child Abduction Rapid Deployment teams throughout the country that could respond quickly to child abduction cases and bring specialized resources. Usually a BAU agent coordinated with the team, either from Aquia or, more often, on-site.
Evelyn tried to put on her most professional voice, but it vibrated with emotion she couldn’t hide. “We don’t have one of our agents on-site yet?”
Dan’s jaw jutted out and she sensed that he was debating whether or not to share something. Finally he said, “Vince is in Florida. He was supposed to be on his way, but his current case just had a major turn.”
Before Dan could tell her who he planned to send instead, Evelyn interrupted. “I’m already up to speed. I can leave now.”
Dan made a noise that might have been laughter, except instead of amusement it was filled with frustration. “I have to choose the agent best suited for the case, Evelyn. And we have agents who’ve worked many, many more child abductions than you. Agents without a conflict of interest.”
Evelyn stepped closer, rested her palms on Dan’s desk. She had to convince him. Nothing was keeping her off this case. “There is no one—no one—who cares about this more than I do. Okay, you’re right. It is a conflict of interest. But maybe that’s exactly what will solve this case after eighteen years.”
She stared at him, unblinking, certain the passion in her tone and the truth in her argument would convince him.
But he frowned, emphasizing the deep lines bracketing his mouth as he reached into his desk drawer and popped a handful of antacids into his mouth. “Evelyn, I’m sorry. I can’t assign you.”
“I’m going, anyway.” The words burst from her mouth without thought, then her heart started pounding a rapid, almost painful tempo. Her job was everything to her.
Dan’s lips compressed into a thin line that hooked up at the corners with disapproval. When he spoke, his voice was quietly intense. “You’re willing to throw away your career for this? Because if I don’t send you and you go, anyway, any OPR investigation will be for show. You’ll be out of the Bureau.”
Pain pierced her eyes. She’d given up everything to be in the Bureau. But she’d joined for Cassie.
“I have to.” Her voice quavered, but she pressed on. “Whatever the consequences, I can’t turn my back on this. She was my closest friend.” Evelyn clenched her fists. “I have to do this for her.”
Dan jolted to his feet, his face a mask of fury. “You are the biggest pain in the ass I have ever supervised.”
“What?” Hope pushed through her dread.
“If you fuck this up, do you know how much heat I’ll be in for sending you? Damn it, Evelyn! You’re a good profiler. I don’t want to lose you. And I don’t appreciate being put in this position.”
He didn’t give her a chance to respond, just pointed at the door. “Get the paperwork in order now. And when this case is over and you come back here, you are going to be the most obedient employee in the whole damn office—do you understand me?”
“Yes,” she choked out, suddenly wanting to run around the desk and hug Dan. Instead, she croaked, “Thank you,” and hurried out the door.
After thirteen years, she was finally going home to Rose Bay. And this time, she wasn’t